The present invention was initially developed to overcome the problems faced by all denture wearers, particularly elderly people and aged care facilities, with respect to the cleaning of dentures. Typically elderly people and/or their carers clean dentures in hand with a brush, often using an incorrect cleaning solution (e.g. toothpaste).
The conventional ‘brushing’ method, which is considered the gold standard, is not simple, straightforward, or safe, nor does it provide a consistently hygienic outcome. This method uses a brush that is similar in design to a conventional tooth brush, and requires the dentures be hand-held, brushed and rinsed clean by either (a) a somewhat less dextrous, often elderly, person, or (b) a busy carer. Dentures are very expensive to replace or repair and can easily be damaged when dropped. Replacement or even the simplest repair of broken dentures can offer significant clinical challenges for patients who display varying degrees of muscle dysfunction [e.g. dysphagia] or varying levels of cognitive impairment [e.g. dementia].
Inadequate cleaning of oral appliances equates to poor oral hygiene. The detrimental effects of poor oral hygiene on general health and its contribution to numerous diseases of the mouth are well documented in the scientific literature and are universally accepted.
Prior art cleaning devices for dentures include various kinds of brushes, holders, containers, cleaning solutions, sanitising solutions, soaking baths, ultra-sonic and ultra-violet baths. However each of these known products currently available does only one thing: it either ‘cleans,’ ‘stores,’ or ‘protects’ the dentures. Nothing currently available is able to effectively combine the functions of ‘cleaning, storing and protecting’.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,564,636 (Tomer) issued in 1971 is for a brushing device for dentures that comprises first and second discs with brush bristles secured thereto, the discs being non-rotatably received in respective first and second cup-shaped containers. The open mouth of each of the cup-shaped containers is designed to be received in “interfitting relationship” with the other so as to permit “relative rotation with respect to the other.” A denture is placed between the brushes and a cleaning action is performed by relatively rotating the cup-shaped containers with the fingers of both hands in contact therewith. There are no perforations in the cup-shaped containers to permit fluid flow into the region between the brushes. The device of Tomer is designed simply as a cleaning device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,077 (Saarela) issued in 1994 is for a cleaning device for dental appliances and for a method. The device of Saarela is a hollow circular case formed from two coacting elements, a top half and a bottom half, which engage with one another to form a sealed case. Openings are provided in a peripheral wall of each half, and bristle tufts are seated between the openings and from substantially the whole interior surface of the case. As shown in FIG. 5, the two halves of the case of Saarela can be twisted, while holding it under running water, to effect a cleaning action of a dental appliance held within the case. The case can also be used for storing the dental appliance after cleaning (see column 3, line 33).
One of the problems with these prior art cleaning devices is that there is no facility for accommodating different sized dental appliances within the device.
The present invention was developed with a view to providing a more efficient denture cleaning device that can be easily used by an elderly person or a busy carer. The device may also provide a purpose-built system for properly cleaning, storing and protecting dentures. However during the initial development phases applications for all other types of removable dental appliances were also developed, using the same basic device design and ‘technology’. At this stage, it is anticipated that various embodiments of the invention may be used for cleaning all types of removable dental appliances.
The term ‘removable dental appliance’ is not limited to, but includes the following types of intra-oral appliances:                Sports and protective mouth guards (boil and bite or professionally customised).        Occlusal Splints        Mandibular Advancement Devices        Sleep Apnoea and Anti Snoring Devices        Full and Partial Dentures        Orthodontic Retainers        Removable orthodontic alignment devices        Tooth whitening stents        
References to prior art in this specification are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not to be taken as an admission that such prior art is part of the common general knowledge in Australia or elsewhere.